Singapore patrol robots stoke fears of surveillance state

That toy makes you fear a surveillance state? lol Are you kidding me? Even a pre-schooler can take this one out in less than 5 seconds, nearing with a mask and turn it 90 degrees, then it’s dead, latest when the battery ran out. lol

terminator age is coming, call SCHUARZENEGER

Hope the robot spews out commands in Tamil and Bengali also because most of the foreign workers from India and Bangladesh living in cramped dorms 12 to a room and travelling in crowded vans to their construction sites do not understand English.

"one of the "Xavier" robots wove its way through a housing estate and stopped in front of a group of elderly residents watching a chess match.

"Please keep one-meter distancing, please keep to five persons per group," a robotic voice blared out, as a camera on top of the machine trained its gaze on them."

Maybe one of the elderly seniors can teach Xavier chess and challenge it to a game. Whoever loses has to follow the others commands.

Sven AsaiToday 01:18 pm JST

That toy makes you fear a surveillance state? lol Are you kidding me? Even a pre-schooler can take this one out in less than 5 seconds, nearing with a mask and turn it 90 degrees, then it’s dead, latest when the battery ran out. lol

I think this isn't the point. The point you now have machines recording, analyzing and reacting in real time to public behavior, that's a good start for a surveillance state. I don't believe all the CCTVs were being analyzed in real time before that.

Singapore patrol robots stoke fears of surveillance state

I think this is barking up the wrong tree. These robots seem more like mobile "bohan cameras" which are anywhere these days anyway and help solve most crimes. (Dont know what the J-police would do without them).

I am much more worried about government control of our lives via social credit system and big media censorship.

That toy makes you fear a surveillance state? lol Are you kidding me? Even a pre-schooler can take this one out in less than 5 seconds, nearing with a mask and turn it 90 degrees, then it’s dead, latest when the battery ran out. lol

Actually yes it does. This is just the first version they are putting out there and its pretty clear that they have plans for even more invasive versions in the future. Look at what the official said:

But the government defended its use of robots, saying they were not being used to identify or take action against offenders during the tech's trial

Adding "during the tech's trial" indicates they plan to use robots for actual enforcement in the future after the trial is over. This is just the cute baby step to get everyone used to the idea of robots policing them.

Also, while one of these robots itself is not powerful, it is part of a much larger police state that can bring force to bear in an extremely short time. I've been to Singapore a few times and a positive result is that it has extremely "safe" streets in the sense you can walk them without worry about being mugged (way different than in Kuala Lumpur) but for people living there it means that almost every aspect of their lives is being actively controlled.

I have friends who live there who were accustomed to travelling outside Singapore regularly before the pandemic and I think they needed that sense of escape to get by psychologically. Now that they've been stuck there for almost two years, I can tell that the toll of being in a tiny city-state where you are constantly watched without reprieve is taking a toll.

Singapore is a Lee family business and they can, and will, do whatever they want to: we're watching so behave yourself or we'll catch you and cane you.

Dystopian future began.

We either band together as societies and collectively agree to destroy/immobilize these things on sight.

Or we allow ourselves to be surveilled and have our behavior modified by the State.

I'm not against surveillance as a deterrent for criminal behaviors (we already mostly have that), what I am opposed to is ''patrol robots that blast warnings at people''.

As others have said, it's the Government officials who need surveillance; not the general public.

What is Xaviar going to do when the old men tell him to p-off and start chucking whatever is handy at him? Because that is what would happen in any other Western location.

From vast numbers of CCTV cameras to trials of lampposts kitted out with facial recognition tech, Singapore is seeing an explosion of tools to track its inhabitants.

People who are commenting it is not a hulking warbot and can be kicked over are missing the point.

Touch it and see how quickly you will have officers at your door. See Minority Report

This includes smoking in prohibited areas....

I'm all for that.

Censorship by big media is unfortunate, but let the market handle it instead of asking for governmental interference.

Government IS interfering and that’s why there is censorship in big tech/media. To think that they are NOT working hand-in-hand at the moment is pretty naïve. Maybe it wasn’t so obvious 10 years ago but I think it’s pretty blatant at this point.

Well singapore citizens and residents enjoy a very clean city and multicultural society where women are respected and crime is low and ridiculous habits like smoking and spitting or chewing gum and loud music and shouting at people is a crime.

With excellent economy and healthcare.

Yes robots are wierd and perhaps a bit uncomfortable but look how singaporeans enjoy the quality of their life .

Japan could learn alot from Singapore.

There's many ryukyu and Japanese living there actually.

And merlions are cool.

A plastic bag over the top will put it out of action without any violence or criminal damage.

Government censorship of big media? That’s bad.

Censorship by big media is unfortunate, but let the market handle it instead of asking for governmental interference.

Government/Legal censorship needs to be there..as w/o that there will be no government, the market cannot handle that, as the big media controls the market.

It wouldn't last 5 minutes on a UK housing estate.

The difference between Asia and the US. In the US a bunch of teenagers would have flipped this thing on its side the very first day, or someone would have plinked it out with a pellet gun.

I certainly wouldn't recommend (as some have here) trying to 'take out' or 'kick over' over these spying devices - you'd be up in front of the beaks quicker than you could imagine facing the world's most vicious and sadistic punishments known to mankind...... The evil legislators of this and similar countries in the region see it as perfectly OK to order the flogging on bare-buttocks with large bamboo canes, which normally leave the victims crippled and scarred for life - you can check this judicial madness out on the Internet, but you'll need a tough stomach for it.....

These countries should be totally boycotted by all liberal-minded people, and ostracised until they agree to join the 21st century, with a civilised approach to treating its' people in a normal way, starting with abandoning spying on everybody.

I certainly wouldn't recommend (as some have here) trying to 'take out' or 'kick over' over these spying devices

A bunch of teens wearing Halloween masks and baggy costumes? Maybe a forklift with the driver wearing a Donald Trump mask? Can facial recognition see through that? Be creative. These things would quickly be humiliated in the US. Or there would be a big demonstration and it would be stopped by the crowd. Good luck arresting everyone. The people of Singapore are beaten down and submissive like the Chinese.

How well do this thing's cameras tolerate paint balls?

A bunch of teens wearing Halloween masks and baggy costumes? Maybe a forklift with the driver wearing a Donald Trump mask? Can facial recognition see through that?

It would be a very pyrrhic victory. Try that more than once and they will catch up with you - you have to take the mask off somewhere. And then your bottom will wish it had never been born.